University to launch 2010 Southern Writers Series

The Institute for Southern Studies at the University of South Carolina and the Richland County Public Library are sponsoring a Southern Writers Series that will bring a series of writers to Columbia through April.

The series will feature a reading by each writer, followed by a reception and book signing. Each event will take place at 6 p.m. at RCPL’s main library on Assembly Street. All events are free and open to the public.

For more information about the series, contact Dr. Tara Powell, an assistant professor of English and Southern Studies, at 803-777-4498 or tfpowell@gmail.com. Also, visit the RCPL at the www.myrcpl.com/friends/southern-writers-series.

The 2010 Southern Writers Series schedule is as follows:

Daniel Wallace, Monday, Jan. 25 –Wallace has written four novels, including “Big Fish,” 1998 (also major motion picture, 2003); “Ray in Reverse,” 2000; “The Watermelon King,” 2003; and “Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician,” 2007. Originally from Alabama, Wallace teaches at the University of North Carolina.

Brian Ray, Monday, Feb. 8 – Ray wrote the novel, “Through the Pale Door,” in 2009, which won the S.C. First Novel Prize, an award sponsored by the S.C. Arts Commission. Versions of the manuscript were also finalists for the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Award and the 2007 Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Award. Originally from Georgia, Ray earned an MFA in creative writing from the University of South Carolina and lives in Greensboro, N.C.

Percival Everett, Wednesday, Feb. 24 – Everett has written 17 novels, three collections of short stories, two books of poetry and a children’s book. He has received numerous literary awards, including a PEN USA 2006 Literary Award for his western novel, “Wounded,” 2005, and a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and the Academy Award for Literature form the American Academy of Arts and Letters for his satire of the publishing industry, “Erasure,” 2001. Everett grew up in Columbia and graduated from A.C. Flora High School. He teaches at the University of Southern California.

Pamela Duncan, Thursday, March 18 – Duncan has written three novels, including “The Big Beautiful,” 2007; “Plant Life,” 2003; and “Moon Women,” 2001. “Plant Life,” the story of seven generations of Carolina textile workers, won the 2003 Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction. Duncan, who also earned the 2007 James Still Award for Writing about the Appalachian South, lives and teaches in Cullowhee, N.C.

Robert Inman, Thursday, April 1 – Inman will give a staged reading of his play, “Dairy Queen Days,” by University of South Carolina drama students. Inman writes plays, musicals, screenplays and non-fiction. Two of his works became Hallmark Hall of Fame presentations. His works of fiction include “Home Fires Burning,” 1987; “Old Dogs and Children,” 1991; “Captain Saturday,” 2002; “The Christmas Bus,” 2006; and “Dairy Queen Days,” 1997, an adaptation of the the play. Raised in Alabama, Inman is a retired journalist who lives and writes in Charlotte and Boone, N.C.

Margaret Maron, Thursday, April 15 – Maron has written 26 novels, including the acclaimed Deborah Knott and Sigrid Harald mystery series. She also wrote two collections of short stories. Her most recent novels are “Sand Sharks,” 2009, and “Death’s Half Acre,” 2008. Her first Deborah Knott novel, “Bootlegger’s Daughter,” 1992, won the Edgar Allen Poe Award, the Macavity, the Anthony, as well as the Agatha Award. She won the N.C. Award for Literature in 2008 and has been president of Sisters in Crime, the American Crime Writers League and the Mystery Writers of America. Maron was born, raised and lives in North Carolina.

The university’s Institute for Southern Studies is under the direction of Dr. Walter Edgar. For more information, visit the Web site: www.cas.sc.edu/iss/